HTC’s Cher Wang announced that the company

When HTC’s Cher Wang announced that the company would be revitalizing its mid-range lineup to regain the market share it lost last year, we were not expecting to see leaks of these devices pop up on the web just a few days later.The HTC Desire 8 may be the first mid-range phone from HTC that’s appealing enough to have an impact on HTC’s bottom line. The Desire 8 is said to feature a 5.5-inch display with an unspecified resolution, dual-SIM card support, 13-megapixel main camera, 5-megapixel camera on its front and BoomSound front-facing stereo speakers nearly tucked inside a plastic shell. While the HTC logo is still present below the display, the lack of capacitive buttons implies that the HTC Desire 8 will sport on-screen buttons like the HTC M8.We’d like to point out that the March 18th date and Beijing location listed on the display may correlate with the “late March” launch event of the HTC M8. HTC did unveil the HTC One on its own last year, but HTC has traditionally unveiled multiple devices at its major launch events over the years.Source: MyDrivers

Sony PS3 given another two to four years of life

Sony has pledged to continue supporting its last-generation PlayStation 3 console for at least two to three years following the launch of its successor, the PS4, late last year.Unlike Sony's previous PlayStation consoles, the PS4 has no backwards compatibility with games built for the older systems, although some support is expected to appear via the PlayStation Now streaming service and a rumoured software update. For now, however, those buying a PS4 are restricted to playing just PS4 games - leading to a cautious wait-and-see attitude amongst more thrifty gamers.Those who do choose to see how both the PS4 and its rival the Xbox One perform over the next year or so before taking the plunge and picking a side will be relieved to hear Sony state that it expects at least two years' of support for the last-generation console. Speaking to GameSpot, Sony hardware marketing executive John Koller proclaimed the PS3 far from dead."We believe that the platform has a lot of life left in it. Two, three, four years; we think there's time left in the platform,"claimed Koller. "It depends on the content. We have a good line-up this year and it looks like a good line-up next year. We need to keep fuelling that. We really have to keep PS3 alive - and so to do that, we have to further the content. I think there will be a good story for the PS3 over the next year to two years."

LG teases G2 Mini reveal ahead of MWC

LG has used its official Facebook fan page to tease the announcement of its G2 Mini smartphone, a smaller version of the flagship G2 handset launched last year, ahead of an official unveiling at the Mobile World Congress show later this month.

Based on the images, which show the rear of the G2 Mini alongside an original G2, the smaller smartphone will retain the rear-mounted power and volume controls of its bigger brother. The difference in size would suggest the G2 Mini could have similar dimensions to other 4.3in smartphones, but that doesn't mean it will have a 4.3in screen; the G2 is no bigger than most 4.7in handsets but has a 5.2in display, and we expect LG to do something similar with this new model. Rumours have suggested a 4.7in screen, along with the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor as found in the vanilla G2.Little is actually known about the G2 Mini so far, which is surprising given the fact that the HTC M8, Sony Xperia Z2 and Samsung Galaxy S5 have all been heavily leaked ahead of the mobile world's largest annual trade show.This early reveal suggests LG won't be introducing a new flagship to replace the G2 at this year's show. It would be quite the achievement if the company had managed to keep two high-end handsets a secret this close to an official unveiling.Other rumoured specifications include 2GB of RAM and the Android 4.4 KitKatoperating system running underneath LG's own tweaked UI.We'll likely have to wait until Mobile World Congress, which kicks off on the 23rd of February, to find out more about LG's plans for its latest smartphone - unless it decides to share more over social networks ahead of the event itself.

Samsung Galaxy Star Trios S5283

GENERAL	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2 & SIM 3
	3G Network	HSDPA 850 / 2100
	SIM	Triple SIM (Mini-SIM)
	Announced	2014, February
	Status	Coming soon. Exp. release 2014, Q1

BODY	Dimensions	106 x 61 x 11 mm (4.17 x 2.40 x 0.43 in)
	Weight	105 g (3.70 oz)

DISPLAY	Type	TFT capacitive touchscreen, 256K colors
	Size	240 x 320 pixels, 3.14 inches (~127 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration, MP3 ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes

MEMORY	Card slot	microSD, up to 32 GB
	Internal	4 GB, 512 MB RAM

DATA	GPRS	Yes
	EDGE	Yes
	Speed	HSDPA, HSUPA
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	Yes, v4.0
	USB	Yes, microUSB v2.0

CAMERA	Primary	2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels
	Features	Geo-tagging
	Video	Yes, VGA
	Secondary	No

FEATURES	OS	Android OS, v4.1.2 (Jelly Bean)
	Chipset	Qualcomm MSM7225A Snapdragon
	CPU	1 GHz Cortex-A5
	GPU	Adreno 200
	Sensors	Accelerometer, compass
	Messaging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
	Browser	HTML
	Radio	FM radio
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support
	Java	Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
	Colors	Black, White
		- SNS integration - MP4/H.264 player - MP3/WAV/eAAC+/FLAC player - Organizer - Image/video editor - Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa - Document viewer - Voice memo/commands - Predictive text input

BATTERY		Li-Ion 1300 mAh battery
	Stand-by
	Talk time

MISC	SAR US	1.04 W/kg (head)     1.16 W/kg (body)
	SAR EU	0.96 W/kg (head)     0.38 W/kg (body)
	Price group

Windows Phone 8.1 emulator demoed

The Windows Phone 8.1 leaks are intensifying - we saw a ton of screenshots but seeing the OS on video is much more revealing. It's an early emulator build but it already shows some interesting things about Microsoft's new mobile OS.First off, things that are missing – no notification center and no Cortana. These might not have been ready for this particular build (note that this is a leaked build, not an official release).

Anyway, changes in the UI are pretty extensive. First, the navigation buttons have moved on-screen. This allows customization – they can be hidden by apps (and revealed with a swipe), you can set their background to match that of the app or the highlight color. You can see those settings in action at the 3 minute mark.Earlier on in the video, the app switching UI is demoed and it looks the same as before, but now you can swipe apps away instead of hitting the X button (this is at the 1 minute mark). Opening new apps shows a splash screen while the app loads, similar to desktop Windows 8.1 and iOS.Another change relating to apps is that this build provides an option to store apps on a microSD card similar to Android (option at 9 minute mark). This could be huge for low-end devices with small storage.Internet Explorer 11 brings a revamped UI and engine too – YouTube now works much better and tabs show up as individual entries in the app switcher interface. The browser also adds support for WebGL (web-based 3D graphics). The camera UI has been changed a bit and now features a Burst shot button. The volume controls have also been revamped and now you get more granular settings.The Windows Phone 8.1 SDK also contains settings for QHD screens (2,560 x 1,600), which will enable super-high dpi flagship phones and even tablets.

Make 'business connections' with Virgin America's new in-flight social network ;)

Haven't had much luck buying alluring strangers a drink on your last few Virgin America flights? What you need, my friend, is a service to expand your circle of potential prospects and make the in-flight connection you deserve. At least that's what the airline must be thinking with its announcement of the "first-ever" in-flight social network, developed with Gogo Wifi and the Here on Biz geo-location app.Once you've downloaded Here on Biz from the App Store (sorry, no Android types need apply) and connect through Gogo, the service lets you register via Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter to contact fellow travelers at the gate, on your plane and even on other Virgin America flights. But don't think the social network is all about helping you get lucky at 35,000 feet (the sexy skies are the furthest thing from Richard Branson's mind, after all); Virgin America says the service is targeted at business travelers who want to "take advantage of downtime in-flight to build or renew their professional connections." It's unclear, though, whether Virgin will claim rights to any startup ideas hatched on board.

MightyText Android app goes Pro, adds extra features for monthly cost

Three years ago, MightyText started out as a clever app that, when paired with a Chrome extension, could sync your texts and incoming call alerts to your computer. Since then, it's blossomed into a web app in which you can access your SMS/MMS, calls, contact list and photos/videos from any browser. Next up in the app's progression: a Pro version. It's technically been in a limited beta for the past few weeks, but the developers of MightyText have wiggled most of the bugs out and are ready to open Pro account access to any and all who are willing to pay a monthly or annual fee.The Pro account, which is launching at an early bird price of $2.50 per month (or a flat annual rate of $30, if you know you'll hang onto it for a while), comes with a rather large list of additional features. A Pro's arsenal of software weaponry will include eternal message storage, number blocking, mass group messaging (up to 25 people), themes, the ability to sync older texts from your phone to the app, message templates, 50GB storage space for photo and video uploading and a scheduler. If Pro isn't your thing, the free version will continue to be available -- MightyText plans to always have one.